Super
Typhoon Yolanda (international codename- Haiyan) ravaged towns and cities in
the Philippines on November 8 and thousands of persons have been feared dead.
Reports
of government agencies on November 9 counted only a hundred dead, but the
estimate was increased to about a thousand on November 10. As of midday
November 10, sources said, there could be more than 10, 000 deaths related to
the typhoon, the exact figures are not yet available due to the damage in
communications facilities and loss of electricity in many affected provinces.
Though
precautions were taken by residents in the different provinces and cities that
were on the path of typhoon Yolanda, still the people were unprepared at the
wrath caused by the typhoon.
Yolanda
destroyed Leyte and neighboring provinces with sustained winds of around 315
kilometres (195 miles) on Friday, November 8 and generated waves up to three
metres (10 feet) high that surged deep inland. The storm surge destroyed properties in Tacloban City and swept fishing villages in Leyte. Yolanda's path included
Leyte, Cebu, Iloilo, Negros, Mindoro, Surigao. Typhoon Yolanda is the 25th typhoon in the Philippines this 2013 and had its landfall five times-- in Guiuan, Eastern Samar, Tolosa Leyte, Daanbantayan Cebu, Bantayan Island, Cebu and Concepcion, Iloilo. Typhoons in the country are named in alphabetical order.
Map with the two Good Shepherd Convents (Nos. 3 and 7) in Cebu, Central Philippines.
Good
Shepherd Sisters in Cebu who just last month, were among those affected by the
earthquake that struck on October 15, (Read related article on RGS Cebu) opened the convent doors to neighbors who
were living in houses made of light materials.
Sr. Edna Fuentes, local leader,
said the evacuees, used the conference hall of the seminar house. Seventeen
(17) families evacuated at the convent. She said, "The women and children slept at night
at the second floor while the men stayed in the conference hall using tables as
their beds. The contemplatives offered their basement rooms as refuge to the families of the staff." There were no damages to the convent of the apostolic and contemplative
sisters. The last of the families who stayed at the convent to seek shelter
during the typhoon returned to their homes this morning.
Cebu City remains
without electricity this morning, fortunately, the convent has enough water for
the needs of the sisters and the evacuees. Many trees around the convent fell
because of the strong winds but the sisters are grateful that there was not
much damage in Cebu which suffered much during the October 15 earthquake.
Sr.
Fe Mendoza who is in Villa Maria community in Cebu recounted that a man asked to be
checked out of the hospital where he was being treated for serious liver
problem, to join his wife and children who have taken shelter at the Good Shepherd
convent. He wanted to be with his family. They were sent home
with some food provisions. The man was later readmitted at the hospital to
continue his treatment.
Sr.
Regina Pil, whose two sisters in their 90s live in Tacloban City has not heard
any word from them after the typhoon. Though their nephews wanted to evacuate them before the typhoon, they prevailed
on the family that they preferred
to stay in their home.
Sr.
Sue Sinense has tried to contact her family but could not reach them by
telephone and cellphone because all the communication lines were damaged by the
typhoon. Estancia, her hometown, was earlier reported in local television as
the heavily damaged town in Iloilo.
Sr. Concepta Bellosillo’s ancestral home was also damaged by typhoon Yolanda
but remains standing without roof and windows.
At the Sunday Mass in Quezon City, prayers were offered for the victims and
their families. Sr. Cecilia Torres, province leader, has been contacting church
personnel in the affected areas regarding aid to the victims.
The
messages of concern and assurance of prayers from Good Shepherd Sisters
worldwide also came. Sr. Susan Chia, link councilor, who is in Sri Lanka for
the Province Chapter, called Sr.
Cecilia assuring us of the prayers of Sr. Brigid Lawlor, Sr.Maria Teresa Pomar
of the Congregational Leadership Team, and the sisters gathered in Sri Lanka.
Sr. Jude Ellen, contemplative councilor of CLT wrote an email, “I am sad about
the situation in the Philippines… Please be assured that I carry you all in my
heart and in my prayer.”
Sr.
Roswitha Wanke of the Province of Germany/Albania also wrote, “ To you and your
people our compassionate thoughts and prayers! We feel with you and with all
the suffering people in your country…”
Sr.
Dorothy Khaw of the Province of Singapore-Malaysia, is united in prayers and
expressed concern for the people.
Sr.
Annunciata Gatt of the Province of Italy/Malta wrote: “We are all with you at
this terrible moment! The pictures we are watching are devastating! And the
people seem to be so courageous! Our prayers accompany you ...one feels so helpless in front of such
catastrophes . May the good Lord
sustain all those who can help in any way the helpless and confort those who
have lost their loved ones.
The Philippine Province of the Good Shepherd is grateful to all, including the
Holy Father Pope Francis, for the prayers offered, as people face this new calamity that affected millions of people and rendered thousands of families homeless and hungry.